Overview
- The medical examiner said one-year-old Eleanora McLaughlin died of hypothermia and ruled the Dec. 28, 2025 death an accident.
- Toxicology is part of the autopsy record, but the office will not release those results without family consent.
- Under Maine law, any death of a child younger than three must be reviewed by Maine State Police.
- Her mother, Erika McLaughlin, said state child welfare officials had investigated the family multiple times and said a case about the twins closed on Dec. 22, six days before Eleanora died.
- Bangor police arrested the child's grandmother, Michele Dupuis, after a custodial dispute, charging her with criminal restraint as DHHS took the children into state care.